


a delicate confession

by Darkaja



Category: The Dragon Prince (Cartoon)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Cute, Drama, Father-Daughter Relationship, Gen, Mother-Daughter Relationship, Pre-Season/Series 01, Short One Shot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-04
Updated: 2019-06-04
Packaged: 2020-04-07 19:57:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,917
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19092052
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Darkaja/pseuds/Darkaja
Summary: Elven city of Cyra , a few weeks before King Harrow’s demise





	a delicate confession

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Jelly](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jelly/gifts).
  * Inspired by [a delicate condition](https://archiveofourown.org/works/18641923) by [Jelly](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jelly/pseuds/Jelly). 



> Just a personal short sidestory. I've taken my cue from the second chapter of "a delicate condition", when Rayla thinks of her parents she never knew.

Tinker walks goes downstairs slowly, as he observes the last sun’s rays passing through the open windows of the house. It’s a beautiful sunset, yet he can't help thinking about what happened almost a week ago.

 

* * *

 

_Both Tinker and Runaan were eating at the table. Runaan was strangely silent; not a big surprise to be honest, considering that he had never been chatty, but that day he was basically mute. He told Tinker that he hadn't slept that much the previous night. It was then, that someone knocked on their door. Tinker opened it with a smile on his face, but as soon as he realized who the other person was, he immediately changed expression. Meanwhile Runaan reached him, staring in silence at the entance._

_It was an elven soldier, wearing an armor decorated with golden draconic emblems, and a long sword near his side. A Dragon Guard, without any doubt._

_He told them what had happened the previous day, how the humans had managed to overcome their defenses thanks to Dark Magic, and how the Dragon King had been killed along with his egg, and with almost all of his personal guards._

_"Please," Runaan pleaded with Tinker in a tone of voice he had never heard before from him, "leave us alone, just for a moment."_

_Tinker nodded and moved away, peering at them from the kitchen’s door. He saw Runaan asking to the soldier something, but the other one shook his head, pulling out from his cloak something wrapped in a cloth._

_"I'm sorry." The soldier simply told to Runaan, before bowing deeply and leaving their house._

_Runaan said nothing. He just took that item, and locked himself up in their room for all the day, where no one else could see him. Tinker tried only once to enter inside, and found him sitting on the bed, polishing and sharpening what appeared to be two curved swords. When he asked why he was doing that, Runaan shrugged, without even looking at him._

_"No one should ever overlook his own weapons." He said sharply, continuing to pass a cloth over the blades._

_Tinker didn’t try to insist. He recognized those swords, and understood that Runaan wanted to be left alone._

 

* * *

 

Tinker shakes his head and lets out a sigh. He approaches a window, where he can see Runaan leaning against a large tree in the garden with his arms crossed, staring at someone who is training with two wooden swords under the setting sun. He leaves the house, and walks to the same tree slowly, leaning against it, and then remains silent for several minutes.

"I'm sorry."

Runaan lets out a bitter laugh. " _I'm sorry_." He repeats with a scoff. "It's exactly the same thing that soldier told me a week ago. People around here have been telling me nothing else for an entire week. _I'm sorry_. Well, guess what? I don't know what to do with your pathetic excuses."

He stays in silence for another minute, before he realizes what he just said.

"My bad." He murmurs, looking at the ground. "In the last few days it's not me anymore."

"No need to apologize." Tinker replies to him with a smile. "I think it's normal, anyone else would react like that, after that kind of news." He hesitates for a moment. “You know the traditions. Why haven’t you buried those swords?”

“Don’t talk to me about _traditions_.” Says Runaan dryly. “It’s only thanks to them that this war carries over entire centuries, and what happened a week ago is a proof. In the end, it’s all like a cursed circle. A circle that will ever end.” He adds in a melancholy voice.

They both stare for several seconds at the distant figure who is still training.

"Does she know anything?" Asks finally Tinker, moving his head towards that direction.

"Not yet." 

"You’d better tell to her." The other elf points out. "Rumors are spreading quickly, sooner or later they’ll reach her."

Runaan rolls his eyes. "You think I don't want to do that?" He snaps, a little frown on his brow. "It's not easy, I'm not…  _Her real father_." He runs a hand over his face. "I’m just wondering what he’d say in my place."

"But _you don’t have to_.” Tinker says, his lips still curved into a smile. “Why are you so afraid to tell her?"

"I don’t know what are you talking about. I stopped feeling fear since a long time." The other elf ì says absently, without looking at the person next to him.

“ _Liar_." Tinker bursts out laughing. "Everyone is afraid of something, even you. You are no longer what you used to be.” He points again at the distant figure, now hitting a dummy with the wooden swords. “She has changed you over these years."

“I was just twenty years old at that time. I was younger.” Scowls Runaan at Tinker. “… _And more stupid_.” He adds with a grimace, as he notices the other elf’s smirk.

Then he lets out a sigh, sliding to the ground slowly, his gaze landing on the distant figure again.

"You'll find the right words."

"I’ll leave tonight." Runaan says quietly, ignoring Tinker. "Don’t say _anything_ to her. Understood?"

"She has earned the right to choose." The other elf retorts, still leaning against the tree. "She’s no longer a child, Runaan."

Runaan shakes his head. "I know her better than anyone else, and I can assure you she isn’t ready. She’s still young, and tends to hesitate too much. _She’s just like_..." He stops talking for several seconds, a blank stare on his face.

"She’s just like _her_?" Suggests Tinker, sitting next to him, a hand gently put on Runaan’s shoulder.

For the first time in a week, the shade of a smile reappears on Runaan's face.

"Yes." He merely answers, as he looks at distant figure again.

"… Maybe that's why I'm _so afraid_ to tell her."

 

_* * *_

 

_It was pouring rain that night when someone knocked on his door, waking him._

_“Just a moment, I... I’m ‘oming." Muttered Runaan with a yawn, rising from his bed uncomfortably._

_As the knocking sound on the door became more insistent, he quickened his steps, hurting a table and cursing out loud._

_"Whoever you are, I’m not deaf.” He grumbled, as he was opening the door. “I really hope you have a good reason to wake m-"_

_He choked, eyes narrowed as soon as he saw the person in front of him under the rain. It was a slim and tall figure, wearing a traveling cloak, and had a hood pulled down over the face. The cloaked figure raised the head slowly, and two violet eyes stared at Runaan. They looked at each other in silence for several seconds, before Runaan frowned._

_"What" he hissed with hatred, "in the name of the bloody moon are you doing here?"_

_The other figure smiled bitterly. "Is this your way to greet me now?"_

_"You and I have nothing to say each other, you should know it too well. Not anymore, at least." Replied Runaan dryly._

_"Please, let me in."_

_“First you disappear, and then you present yourself right here, in the middle of the night. You really hope to stir me to pity? I'm sorry, but that doesn't work."_

_"Please," the cloaked figure insisted, "I have to talk to you. It’s important, I-"_

_"I TOLD YOU TO LEAVE!"_

_He was already closing the door, when a sort of  odd and low moan echoed behind him. Runaan reopened the door slowly, realizing that the other person was holding what looked like a bundle made of cloth._

_"You brought her here on purpose." He pointed out harsly, looking at her with an accusatory gaze._

_The other figure smiled to him again, and another moan came out from the bundle._

_Runaan rolled his eyes and snorted loudly. "Damn you, Chandra. Come in!"_

_They both entered in the dark house, heading to the kitchen. Runaan approached the fireplace, leaning towards it, and crushed in his hand what appeared to be a small red stone._

_"Ardeo!"_

_The fire lit up, and the elf huffed, rising from the ground. He jerked a finger to the table._

_"You can sit there, if you want."_

_She lowered her head in response. "Thank you." She murmured, sitting on a near chair with the weeping bundle in her arms._

_Runaan headed for the table, and sat far away from the other person, arms crossed and jaw clenched._

_"You know, there’s no rain here, just in case you didn’t notice." He said coldly, ignoring the crying sound._

_Chandra lowered her hood, revealing a pair of black horns and silver hair gathered in a long braid. She started cradling and singing a slow lullaby to the clothed bundle, until it stopped crying._

_"You shouldn’t have screamed like that." Whispered Chandra, glaring at him. "You woke her up."_

_Runaan sighed and closed his eyes, running a hand on his face. For a moment, he was really tempted to kick her out again._

_"You hungry?" He manages to grumble, without looking at her. "There’s still some Winter stew left."_

_"Just a little bit, I’m very tired." She confessed with a half smile. “I walked for a long time, since I’m too scared to ride a horse while holding her, and she kept crying while it was raining. It seems she doesn’t like water that much.”_

_Runaan_ _got up and headed for the fireplace._ _He lifted the lid of a large copper pot, and filled a plate of stew, handing it to the_ _elf_ _sitting at the table._ _Then he sat on the other side of the table again._ _He remained in silence for several minutes while she was eating._

 _"Why did_ _you come here?"_ _Runaan_ _finally asked, this time with both arms and legs crossed._

 _Chandra looked up from the steaming plate._ _"What is it, can't I visit my brother from time to time?"_

 _"I didn’t mean that." he retorted, frowning._ _"You've been missing for years, and only recently I heard from personal sources that you joined the Dragon Guard, and that you had a daughter._ _No letters, no explanations._ _Nothing._ _You didn't even bother to come to our mother's funeral over a year ago._ _And now I find you here in front of my house, soaking wet, and with that..." He jerked his finger towards the object he held in his hand._ _"_ _... That thing there._ _You ran away from everyone and everything, like a coward."_

 _"That thing," Chandra hissed, giving to him a harsh glare "is your niece._ _You_ _know that,_ _don't you?"_

 _"I asked you a question before."_ _Runaan scowled at her, his blue eyes pointed at her._

_"Same goes for me." She replied in a dry tone, pointing at the same time her violet eyes at him._

_They kept staring at each other grimly for a few seconds, before_ _Runaan_ _lowered_ _his head slightly._

 _"Sorry._ _You're right, that was too much."_

 _Chandra let out a loud sigh._ _"There was a time we were a family." She_ _said quietly,_ _lowering in turn her head._ _"Couldn’t we start talking again, like before?"_

  _"We’re no longer children, Chandra.” Replied Runaan,_ _giving her_ _a_ _melancholy smile._ _People grow up, and there are changes in life that you don't expect._ _I also had to change, when I complete my training."_

 _"I haven't changed that much."_ _She_ _pointed out_ _with a smirk._ _"I've always loved the Winter stew, remember?"_

 _"Oh, of course I do." He chuckled._ _"Everytime our mother prepared it, you used to run into the kitchen and steal all of it._ _Then you blamed me, bragging to our father how_ _daring you were not to be discovered."_

 _"Oh, really? And what about you?" Chandra asked amused._ _"Didn't you_ _always eat all of the Moonberries that I used to pick up into the woods near our house?"_

 _"But_ _I’ve always offered some kind of apology, haven’t I?"_ _Runaan_ _scoffed at her._ _"I always brought you a Moonflower, your favorite one."_

 _They both burst out_ _laughing, until Runaan_ _pointed to something that she was carrying under her cloak._

_"I see you’re still using them."_

_She took a hand on her back and quickly unsheathed a curved sword, then spinned it, turning the blade into a sort of hook._

_"Are you so surprised? After all, you were the one who gave me these."_

_She spinned the sword again, turning the hook into a blade, then sheathed and hid it under her cloak._

_"Yeah," his brother muttered, “it was the day you left home, if I recall correctly. Right after your fifteenth birthday. Well, I hope you’re taking care of them._ _Remember what was the last thing I told you?”_

_“No one should ever overlook his own weapons!” Chandra mocked him with a large grin, trying to replicate his grumbling voice. “Don’t worry, I sharpen my dear pointy friends everyday.”_

_They remained silent for a while, staring at the burning fire that crackled near the table._

_"I’m sorry, Runaan. I’m so sorry." She murmured._ _"But I also had to change._ _Joining the Dragon Guard is not an easy task, and requires sacrifices, you should know that."_

 _Runaan raised an eyebrow. "Nobody forced you, as far as I know._ _Or was it your lover who convinced you?"_

 _"His_ _name’s_ _Koray,” she replied sharply, as she showed to him a hand where a small ring was glowing on the last finger,_ _“and he’s my husband now._ _He has never disrespected you, and you could do the same."_

 _Runaan_ _rolled his eyes and moved his hand_ _as a sort of “excuse-me” gesture._

 _"I still remember what our parents taught us as children,” Chandra continued with a whisper, “that_ _we should never have been afraid during our lifes, and for many years I tried to believe it._ _But when I got pregnant, things changed." Her eyes rested lovingly on the bundle in her hand, and a smile appeared on her face._ _"I began to be_ _afraid of not_ _being a good_ _mother,_ _I was afraid of making mistakes. There was a moment_ _I was afraid that something would go wrong during the pregnancy, I thought I’d die. Maybe you’re right, I’m just a coward._ _When_ _Koray_ _saw me so desperate, he even suggested to...” She shook the head. “I immediately refused._ _I never killed anyone, even though I was trained to._ _How could I get rid of my own child?_ _It_ _was then that I realized that my_ _biggest fear was losing my daughter. I had to protect her, and that the best way to do that was to join the Dragon Guard."_

 _"Raising_ _a child among soldiers isn’t exactly an easy task." Runaan pointed out, his brow furrowed._

_"Probably."_

_Runaan frowned even more. "What-"_

_He_ _stared at his sister, eyes narrowed._ _And as soon as he began to realize the meaning of that single word, his face fell._

_"… Is this some kind of joke?"_

_Chandra shook her head._ _"Koray_ _and I_ _discussed a lot about this._ _And we’ve both arrived at your same conclusion." She looked him straight in the eyes._

 _"Runaan,_ _we want you to_ _raise our daughter."_

 _A heavy silence feel into the room, interrupted only by the fire that_ _continued to crackle near_ _them._ _Then_ _Runaan_ _leaned on the table, as he bursted out laughing._

_"Let me ask you a question," he said amused, wiping away a tear from his eye, "You remember what my actual vocation is, right?"_

_When he noticed that Chandra was mute and still had that innocent smile still on her face,_ _Runaan slammed_ _his hand on the table, causing his sister's plate to crush on the floor._

 _"Moon above,_ _Chandra!” He bellowed._ “ _Have you completely lost your mind? Taking your own daughter away from_ _Xadia's_ _most powerful military force, just to entrust her to an assassin?_ _WHAT THE ACTUAL_ - _"_

 _He stopped as he realized that the bundle was crying again, and snorted, waiting for Chandra to finish cradling it again._ _When she raised her head,_ _Runaan_ _immediately_ _noticed her red eyes, and cursed himself in his mind._

 _"Y-You really think it was an easy choice? It’s all because of this nonsense war!" She sobbed cradling the bundle, tears in her eyes._ _"I'd rather die than leave her, but I have no other choice._ _I raised and protected her as long as I could._ _If you don't want to do this for me, then it for her._ _P-Please, you’re the only one I can trust."_

 _Runaan_ _put a hand on his mouth,_ _tapping nervously the table with the other hand’s fingers for several seconds._

_"I'm not suited to be a father.”_

_"It's not an_ _impossible_ _task.”_ _Said Chandra, “I’ll show you how to do it._ _Or_ _are_ _you scared as I was?"_

_He glared at her without answering._

_"If you accept, I'd like to_ _ask you something else." His sister added, hesitating for a moment._ _"I want you to train her."_

 _Runaan‘s eyes_ _saddened. "You just saw how I changed after my training._ _You really want your daughter to end up like me?"_

 _"I want her to learn how to defend herself, since I  won’t be there to protect her." Replied Chandra in a bitter voice._ _"What happens next depends on her._ _Everyone is free to decide their own destiny, and I know that she’ll make the right choice."_

 _Runaan_ _let out a sigh and leaned his back against the chair._ _"All right.” He snapped. “But now I want_ _you to promise something to me. You have to promise me that when her training will be over, you return to her. Every child has the right to have parents. I could never replace you, no matter how hard I try."_

_“You’re too strict with yourself, I’m sure you’ll be a good father to her.” Pointed out Chandra. “I just hope that one day she’ll forgive us.” She added, looking at the clothed bundle in her arms._

_Runaan smiled and_ _moved a hand towards her._ “ _Remember what we always did as children, when we used to disguise ourself as humans_?”

_He noticed the confused face that his sister made, and he started jerking a finger of the extended hand._

_“Pinky_ _promise?"_

 _Chandra smiled, recognizing that gesture._ _"Pinky_ _promise."_

_They interlaced their last fingers for several seconds._

_"Are you sure of your decision?"_

_"Yes." She answered firmly._ _"I_ ' _m ready."_

 _Runaan_ _got up with a huff and approached her sister, sitting next to her._

_"Hey,” he wishepered gently to her, “I never liked seeing you cry, you should now that.” He wiped away a tear from her cheek. Then his eyes landed on the thing in his sister’s hands._

_”May I_ _see my niece?" He finally asked, pretending to use an indifferent tone._

 _Chandra_ _sobbed for a last time and_ _handed him the bundle._ _Runaan looked at it for several seconds, before he decided to open the cloth._ _He found himself looking at a small and puffy face, with big violet eyes, two small horns, and a few silver hair._ _As soon as the baby realized that she was no longer into her mother’s hands, she bursted into tears._

 _Chandra_ _laughed, noticing her brother’s confused expression, and took her again._ _"You have to do like this, see?"_

_As soon as she started to cradle her, the baby stopped crying, and she gave her back to her brother._

_"I told you that I'm not suited to be a father."_ _He snorted_ , _rolling his eyes_.

 _"You just have to get the hang of it.” Said Chandra patiently to him._ “ _Don’t worry, even_ _Koray_ _had the same problem. The first time he held her in his arms he was terrified, just like you in this moment."_ _She smirked to him._

_Runaan started muttering something about the fact he was never scared, when suddenly the baby started to suck her own thumb. As soon as he looked at her, his frown softened._

_"She looks a lot like you, you know? She has your very eyes." He murmured, his lips curved into a smile. "… And it also seems that she’s as stubborn as you are." He added with a grimace, as the baby grabbed and pulled one of his hair’s strands._

_"You know," Said Chandra quietly, looking amused at that scene.  "I’ve always wondered what kind of person she could like. I can’t wait to see her on her wedding day."_

_"Whoa, easy there.” Bursted out Runaan in a sort of offended tone. “I’ve just met her, and you already think to take her away from me? No way! I wouldn’t even marry her to a prince."_

_"You say so?” She laughed. “If  there's one thing I've learned, it's that life is like… A river. You never know where it will take you, and you can just follow it. I did that, and I never regretted it. Whoever she falls in love with, I’m sure they’ll both live a long and happy life. I really hope he’ll be a more clever guy than Koray. You know, it took a while before he realized that he loved me.” Added Chandra winking to her brother._

_Runaan_ _continued to cradle the_ _baby_ _in his arms, lost in thoughts._

 _"The lullaby you sang before," he asked hesitantly, "it_ _was the same that our mother used to sing, wasn't it?"_

_Chandra gave a nod in response._

_“You’ll have to teach it to me again, otherwise this little pest will never let me sleep. It’s been a while since I heard it, I don’t remember its words anymore.” Confessed embarrassed Runaan, still looking at the bay sucking her thumb._

_“I’ll do that whenever you want.” She replied gently to him. “Who knows, maybe one day she’ll sing it to her own children.”_

_They both remain in silence for a while near the crackling fire, while Runaan kept cradling his niece._

_"Does she have_ _at least_ _a name?"_

_Chandra tucked a single silver hair away from the baby’s face. “Remember how our mother used to call me when I was a child?”_

_“Little moonbeam?”_

_"Exactly. It was the first thing I thought of her, right after she was born. That’s why I decided to name my daughter after our mother." She whispered,_ _as she observed her daughter falling asleep in Runaan’s arms._

_"... Her name's Rayla."_

 

* * *

 

"... Hey! Runaan, can you hear me?"

Runaan winces,  lost in his thoughts. He’s still sitting on the ground under the tree, and he’s facing someone who looks at him with a confused and frowning expression.

"Is everything alright?" Asks Rayla, her face sweating from the fatigue of the training.

Runaan stares at her for a few seconds, still dazed. "Nothing. I… I must have fallen asleep, that’s all." He cuts short.

The frown on Rayla’s brow deepens. "Uh... Since when you use to sleep _with your eyes open_?"

Runaan snorts and stands up abrutly. "I was _meditating_." He snaps. "Anyway, your training for today is over."

"But I started only a few hours ago!"

Runaan silences her with a wave of the hand. "I need to talk to you." He simply says, jerking his finger towards the place where she used to train.

“But I-"

“ _Now_.”

Rayla starts walking, rolling the eyes in silence. She misses the glare that Tinker gives at his uncle.

“ _I'm not suited to be a father!”_ Hisses Runaan to him before he decides to follow her, letting out a loud sigh.

When they both arrive there, Runaan stands in front of her, arms on his back.

"I thought about this a lot," he says in harsh tone, staring at her eyes, "and I think I’ve finally took a decision."

Rayla grits her teeth. Of course, another telling-off from him. She has lost count how many of them she had in the last week. Runaan removed the hands from his back, showing something to her.

A pair of _curved swords_.

"Today’s your fifteenth birthday. According to the tradition, and considering that your training is basically completed, you’ve earned the right to own real weapons. These are yours now, take care of them. Remember that _no one should ever overlook his own weapons_. Understood?"

Rayla silently stretched out her hands to take the swords. She unsheathes them in a fluid gesture, and spins them, turning the blades into hooks. Then she stares at her hands for a long time.

"It's... _Weird_."

Runaan frowns. "What do you mean?"

Without looking away from them, she turns the hooks back into blades and puts them on her back.

"It's like I've already seen them somewhere else, like…” She stares blankly in front of her. “Like those swords have always been mine."

Runaan lowers the eyes, pursing his lips. "They belonged to the most _daring_ and _stubborn_ person I've ever met."

He notices that Rayla isn’t really paying attention to what he’s saying, and cleares his throat.

"Well... You like them, or what?" He finally blurts out. “I know know that there should have been an official ceremony, but-“

He stops when Rayla hugs him.

Runaan cleares his throat again, clearly embarrassed, and looks around him. "Come on, someone could see us. What would they say about me?"

However when Rayla tries to withdraw, she finds out that she can’t do that. She raises her head surprised at Runaan, now hugging her. Maybe it was simply her immagination, or maybe the last rays of the setting sun, but his eyes were more red than she used to remember.

“Runaan, what's going on?"

He lowers his eyes on her, tucking a strand of her silver hair behind an ear.

"I was hoping that one day someone else would tell you this, but I guess it has to be me.” He pauses, breathing slowly and deeply, as Rayla keeps looking confused at him.

"You know,” he starts, “ _sometimes when you grow up there changes in your life that you don’t expect_.”

 

* * *

 

That same night, Runaan prepares to leave. He puts on his traveling cloak, and transforms his swords into a bow, putting it on his back. When he passes near Rayla's room, he hesitates, staring at the wooden door. After he finished to tell her what had happened one week before, she said nothing. She simply pushed him away, and started training again with her swords until late, then she locked herself in her room.

“ _After all, we’re not so different_.” He thinks, his lips curved in a bitter smile.

Runaan sighs, and enters inside. Rayla is lying on her bed, lit by the moon’s rays passing through the window. She sleeps, her breathing slow and steady. Runaan approaches the bed, and places a small glowing item on it.

" _I'm sorry._ " He whispers, before closing the door.

In the dim light, Rayla's eyes are open, staring in silence at the Moonflower near her.

 

 

Just before he can leave the house, Runaan is stopped by a voice.

"Wait, please."

He turns, and stares at Tinker behind him with a smile. "I have to go, the others are already waiting for me."

"I just want to give you this." The other elf murmurs, showing him a kind of medallion. "I created it," he explains, "there’s a _moon opal_ inside. It could be useful to you."

Runaan puts it around his neck. "Thank you." He says, hugging him.

They stayed embraced for a long time before Tinker tried to speak. "Don't go.” He pleads with him. “I can't lose you like this."

Runaan lets out a chuckle. "This is not goodbye, I swear I’ll return. You know," he confessed, "the night before that soldier arrived here, I saw her in a dream. She told me _we'd meet on the other side_. I already knew that she was dead. I hoped right until the end that I was wrong, and that both her and her husband could finally see Rayla."

"This mission is a mistake, why don't you understand? " Tinker whispers into his ear. "Your sister wouldn’t  have wanted to be avenged."

"I know." Replies Runaan, smiling. "I’m not doing this for her, but for her daughter. I'm just trying to keep a _promise_ that I made fifteen years ago."

 

 

Runaan rides for several miles until he reaches the designated meeting point. The other four chosen elves are already there, sitting around a fire, and with their hoods already lowered over their faces. He approaches, and looks at them one by one. They’re all young, but on the other hand, they know what they were up against when they accepted that mission. 

"Today we leave on a mission." He proclaims in a harsh and dry tone. "As you already know, almost a week ago the King of Dragons, Thunder, and his egg, were murdered by humans coming from the kingdom of Katolis. In two weeks, when the moon is highest, we’ll get there and _justice_ shall be done. Who's with m-"

A hissing sound interrupts him, and a curved blade flies over the fire, striking the tree next to Runaan. The other elves stand up abruptly, their weapons already unsheathed, but Runaan doesn’t even react at all. He just removes the blade, still planted in the wood near him, and throws it back at the same direction it had come from.

“I’d ask you to leave,” sighs Runaan, “but knowing you, I guess you’ll follow us anyway." He turns to a short hooded figure, who jumps down from a nearby tree. "Are you sure of your decision?"

"Yes _._ " Answers Rayla firmly, sheathing her sword and putting it on her back.

_"I’m ready."_

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> Just a quick note: I'll probably change the names of Rayla's parents, if the real ones should ever get officially released by the main serie's creators. Those I'm using right now are just references to real existing names (indian and arabic ones), and are related to stars and moon.


End file.
